MEDIA FIREWORKS: MCCAIN PLEADS WITH NY TIMES TO SPIKE STORY — Just weeks away from a possible surprise victory in the primaries, Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz has been waging a ferocious behind the scenes battle with the NEW YORK TIMES, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned …

McCain responds to Drudge — On Thursday, John McCain responded to an unsubstantiated story on the Drudge Report about whether he did legislative favors for a lobbyist, and alleging his campaign was trying to convince The New York Times to spike a story on the topic.

HALPERIN'S TAKE ON DRUDGE AND THE ENDGAME — As he does almost every day, Matt Drudge is posting political items on his Drudge Report website, including a marquee one about John McCain and an alleged attempt by the senator to squelch a New York Times story. During the electoral endgame, Drudge's vast influence becomes even greater.

Romney's tall tale about MLK — Mitt Romney has defended his position on civil rights, in multiple high-profile settings, by insisting that his father marched with Martin Luther King during his tenure as governor of Michigan in the 1960s. Pressed for specifics, the Romney campaign pointed …

Archbishop says nativity ‘a legend’ — The Archbishop of Canterbury said yesterday that the Christmas story of the Three Wise Men was nothing but a 'legend'. — Dr Rowan Williams has claimed there was little evidence that the Magi even existed and there was certainly nothing to prove there were three of them or that they were kings.

Tancredo drops out, endorses Romney — U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo announced today he's ending his long-shot bid for the White House. — The Colorado Republican made his exit from the race official at a press conference this afternoon in downtown Des Moines. He'll throw his support behind GOP candidate Mitt Romney, he said.

Obama Says He'd Consider Arnold For His Cabinet — ABC's Sunlen Miller Reports: Barack Obama has often said he'd consider putting Repbulicans in his cabinet and even bandied about names like Sens. Dick Lugar and Chuck Hagel. He's a added a new name to the list of possible Republicans cabinet members - Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I'm With Fred — I. Why now? — There has never been, nor will there be, any question that I will vote against the Democratic Party's 2008 nominee for president. And because I don't care to waste my vote on a protest, it will be cast for the GOP's nominee, whoever that turns out to be.

Press Conference by the President — THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I hope you all enjoyed the holiday reception at the White House as much as Laura and I enjoyed it. We took an inventory of the silverware, and this year only a few pieces were missing — so, like, if you see Gregory, tell him to bring them back.

Enquirer Editor Defends Edwards Story — I n an interview with Political Machine, National Enquirer Editor-in-Chief David Perel called the tabloid's story about the John Edwards love child as “one of the Enquirer's greatest political scoops” and denied that the story was leaked by a rival campaign.

POSSIBLE DELISTING? — Earlier this afternoon, I pointed out the beginning of the run on the Rudy contract at the key political betting/prediction sites. — That was a bit after noon. He's fallen like another five points since that post. Current price is 27.3.

Business As Usual On The Border — The reliably thoughtful Andrew Sullivan delivers his perspective on the awful story of a Noridc would-be tourist: … Matt Yglesias joins in: … So, this incident from Cheney's America reads like an Eastern European country in the 70's?

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